Senators' job is to stand up for state

STATE REPS: The Senate chambers at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: The Daily Telegraph

WHAT passes for good governing in Canberra these days is making people sick.

I've lost track of the number of Queenslanders who've said to me if they behaved like that at work they'd be sued, sacked, sent to counselling or taken out the back and given an old-fashioned bollocking.

Public discontent stems mostly from hate politics oozing from the House of Representatives, where politicians try their hardest not to work together.

But what about that other place called the Senate? Come election time we know the candidates for our local House of Reps seat and, with quivering finger, put a "1" against the name of our preferred choice.

Then we look at that daunting Senate ballot paper, sigh at its complexity, and mostly put a "1" in the box of one of the major parties above the line without knowing the name, experience or beliefs of the would-be senators we're voting for.

Did you know that of the six senators who will be elected to Federal Parliament from Queensland this year, four could pack their bags now and holiday in the Maldives until October and still get elected?

That's how the party system works. Unlike an Independent, some major party candidates don't have to campaign. They don't have to tell people what they stand for. They don't have to explain how they'll benefit Queensland.

What most people don't understand is that the Senate is as powerful as the House of Representatives, except it can't introduce money Bills.

Under the Constitution, each state of the Australian federation, regardless of its population, gets 12 senators to represent it. Senators are elected for six years but a system of rotation ensures half face re-election every three years.

The reason each state, big or small, has 12 senators is to make sure the two most populous states, NSW and Victoria, don't constantly screw us over and direct funding their way because they'll always have the largest numbers and power in the House of Reps.

So the 12 Queensland senators, under the Constitution, are supposed to be vigilantly looking after the interests of Queensland. These men and women are constitutionally entrusted as champions of our state. How successful have our Senate champions been? Take out a blank sheet of paper and see if you can name them. They've already been championing Queensland for six, 12, 18, 24 or 30 years? You can do a lot for Queensland in that time. So what have they actually done? Under the Constitution, senators don't have local constituents. This is to allow them to advance the interests of their entire state. It's a golden opportunity.

Queensland senators should be hunting as a pack.

I'm a practical, would-be senator who likes outcomes, so let's pick an obvious state-wide target - the Bruce Highway, a killer of our people and an inefficient piece of infrastructure.

It's not by accident the two most populous southern states have had billions thrown at their Hume and Pacific highways while the same six sections of the Bruce get washed out in each flood and the same black spots destroy families.

If 12 Queensland senators muscle up and do what they're supposed to, Queensland too can have a national highway to be proud of.

Greg Rudd is an independent Senate candidate for Queensland.

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